Tag: aromatherapy

CrystalCast for the week of 11-6-22

Introducing CrystalCast look at the week ahead.

I want to know what you think.

Seriously.

I do.

Hello and welcome to the TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast.

I don’t clutter up comments with a sales pitch and I never ever ever target an individual to offer a reading under any circumstances (if anyone does that to you…RUN AWAY!) so I expect the same courtesy, but other than that, I love hearing from you all. I want to know what you think of this fun little reading.

At its heart, this is a scrying type of psychic reading. Scrying just means gazing. Think of the Queen in Snow White gazing at a mirror or the classic trope of the fortune teller staring at a crystal ball. The famous astrologer Nostradamus is said to have used water scrying, gazing at a bowl of water and reading the ripples and reflections in order to write his famous quatrains. As best as I can tell, the practice of scrying takes the natural, innate human psychological trait of pareidolia … seeing meaningful patterns in randomness … and puts it to good psychological use for personal growth and enrichment.

Just like with a Tarot reading, your impulse and instinct about the images comes before all else. It is what YOU think it is. The reading refers to whatever YOU know it to mean. The best readings are the ones where you walk away with the feeling of confirmation, validation and empowerment. The best readings are the ones where you walk away saying I KNEW it!

These readings, when you watch the video, let’s you engage your inner knowing with the reading in the strongest possible way. All readings, Tarot included, are about amplifying, engaging and empowering your part in all of this.

That’s the up side

With a purely intuition driven scrying reading, there are no established, collective, accepted meanings for anything we see on the tabletop. It’s a big leap of faith. It’s a leap of faith for me to trust my intuition and to lay an advanced level of trusting claim on my intuitive ability and my years of psychic experience. It takes a much larger leap of faith from you to trust the reading’s validity, to trust me. It means a lot that you’ve read this far. I hope that the years of blogging have earned your trust. I’ve been doing this professionally since around 2003, so I hope by now everyone has figured out this is legit. It’s art, but with a heart. This stuff can help in a lot of ways that we’ll talk about on another day.

To start with, let’s keep this light. It is a small leap of faith to do a fun little look at the energies for the week ahead. Honestly, the vibe today reminds me of those old school newspaper horoscopes. That is pretty clost to what Crystal Cast readings will be here in the blog and podcast. The ones you order will, as always, be deeper, more detailed and personalized.

If you are listening on the podcast, I hope you’ll make time to use the link in the show description to come watch the video of the cast itself. Scrying is, by definition, visual.

Now that we’ve talked about gazing and scrying and crystal casting, there are a couple of other things I want to define before we talk about this weeks rocks.

Most of the time, the intuitive impressions come as mental images. That is true for me no matter what amplification tool I’m using be it Tarot cards or playing cards, or crystals or runestones or I ching coins or nothing at all. It all works pretty much the same on the mental and intuitive level. That’s why I originally called the podcast “Clairvoyant Confessional.” This kind of intuitive mental image is the kind of clear-seeing that the word clairvoyant means.

The thing that led me to using runestones in this reading is none other than Thom Pham’s Heart of Stars Tarot that you’ve seen me use here in the blog, with his permission of course. It’s one of my favorite decks because of its pop culture references. When I’m doing readings for individual private clients, my intuition loves pop culture references. It is a wonderful communication tool. A song or a movie or a TV show can communicate exactly what spirit, or energy or intuition (whatever you like to call it) is trying to say. Typically this kind of information comes as words or music. When that happens I’ll say “I hear.” And no, it doesn’t mean I’m hallucinating. Saying “hear” simply means the intuition is presenting as words or sounds instead of mental images.

I’ve worked with aromatherapy, so fragrance will chime in for me more often for me than for the majority of psychics. If I get anything like that it is always intended as a general room fragrance which can support emotional states. I never suggest physical applications. That is best left in the hands of an aromatherapist in a proper holistic health consult. That sort of thing does not belong in any psychic reading.

Other senses can pop up too, but that is fairly rare. If a taste comes through, it probably means I’m hungry or it’s something I like and enjoy too.

All of that being said, let’s kick off this new kind of reading post and take a look at these pretties.

As I scattered the crystals, I heard the word “busy” The clear pieces caught attention more than the obsidian. They seemed very sparkling and glittery despite the overcast skies and subdued light. The general impression is that this is going to be a busy and likely productive week. If this were Tarot cards, I would expect to see plenty of pentacle cards around with that kind of practical, productive, real-world vibe. These lapis runestones have really nice pyrite inclusions. The gold flecks are prominent on the backs of these particular stones, with resonate with a career and money pentacle-like energy. The rune stones fell blank side up. As I learned it, that is called “Odin’s stones” Whatever that may traditionally mean, I ‘hear’ “blank slate” which hints at a lot of potential here. This week is a blank canvas eager for you to paint. I also hear “lay a foundation” looking at these stones. This week is a blank slate for you to start laying a foundation for future plans.

hmmm, interesting.

That word & hearing thing is called Clairaudience like the mental images are called clairvoyance. If this reading is any indication, crystals are going to be as chatty and mental word hearing as Tarot cards are mental image inducing. Cards show, crystals talk if this is any indication of the direction this is heading.

This is going to be fun.

There you have the short and sweet of it. I hope you enjoy your productive, busy, foundation-laying week.

Thank you so much for reading and listening! I appreciate your thoughts about this new reading. Actually I appreciate any questions, comments or feedback about any of the readings we do together.

These free to access readings depend on your support. Please visit the TaoCraft Tarot page on ko-fi where your purchases, memberships and virtual coffee tips all support the work that goes into bringing you this blog and podcast. Links to the blog page with the video and the ko-fi page are in the episode description for those of you listening on the podcast.

Thanks again see you at the next sip!

Inner Peace Because That’s Where It Happens: A one card Tarot reading

Example of a private client email Short Sip Tarot readings. Private readings have a different focus from the broad topics we usually see on the blog

It’s called “inner” peace because that’s where it has to happen no matter what the outside is like.

Hello and welcome back to TaoCraft Tarot blog for what I’m calling season 4 of the audio blog a.k.a. the podcast. I’m glad you are here whatever you want to call it. The text to speech capability that wordpress, anchor fm and spotify offer is working out really well for me so I’m going to keep the blog and podcast as they are unless I hear differently from all of you. I’m a good writer, but not such a good media talent or voice actor. I’m happy to let technology compensate. In the end, you will get a better tasting sip of Tarot.

Happy belated equinox everyone! This is as good of a time as any to start a new season of the podcast. I’ve heard that it’s good practice to re-introduce yourself every now and then. October is the fourth anniversary of rebranding from Modern Oracle Tarot to TaoCraft Tarot. Halloween is often considered the witches’ new year so it all kind of fits. Look for some review and announcement content on the print blog over the next few weeks

Generally speaking, the blog and podcast will post late morning or early afternoon Monday through Friday, but it may skip some days unexpectedly. Social media is completely random. The members-only blog will still get a reliable “Pathway Through the Month” reading near the 1st of each month, a newsletter close to the 15th of each month and the “Tarot Turnover” intuition building exercise every weekend. Stay tuned to the free print blog to learn about other members-only benefits.

The most important message I want to get out to you today is that I am always, always grateful to you for reading, listening, liking, subscribing & sharing but most of all for your questions and comments. Thank you to each and every single one of you.

It happens sometimes.

Sometimes I will pull a card with every intention of doing a general audience blog reading but instead the Tarot message will land right in my own wheelhouse like the Hermit card did today.

The card resonated so well when I drew it that it gave me an idea. Instead of the usual “short sip” reading, I’m going to write this as if it was a one card reading for a client. That way all of you can see (or hear) how my email readings work. The information and detail you get in a private one card is different from the broad topics we usually talk about in a short sip post.

Because I’m a writer, email readings like this are my specialty. Think of an email reading as a written transcript of exactly what I would say to you if we were meeting face to face. Written intuition being exactly equal to spoken intuition is the introverted clairvoyant’s superpower. It’s a win-win for everyone. I get an enjoyable work flow while you get the convenience of 24/7 no-appointment ordering plus a photo of your cards plus a record of the session that you can read (and re-read) whenever you like, as many times as you like. Email readings are supremely private, utterly convenient, not to mention affordable. Here is a comparison for you. In my in-person one hour sessions I use a seven card Tarot layout. I give you that exact same reading by email for 65 cents a minute. Compare that 65 cents per minute to the current national average of 1 to 5 dollars per minute for a psychic reading. That’s already a heck of a bargain when you factor in my 30 years of Tarot reading experience. So no, I don’t do readings for free outside blog and podcast, and no, I’m not doing any more sales or giveaways other than those that are part of the ko-fi memberships. This isn’t a scam but I have legit expenses like web hosting, book keeping, food and so on.

But I digress. Back to the Hermit card.

Let’s roleplay this a little.

I’ll write today’s post as if it were a one card email reading for a private client, using the impressions that came through when I drew the Hermit card earlier. If you like, pretend this is a private reading, just for you. Kick the tires and take it out for a test-drive to see how you like the email format. Then if you ever order a private email reading with me, you can be confident it will meet or exceed your expectations because you’ll already know what to expect.

Question: Hi. My name is Tired Person who has had a super chaotic couple of weeks. I would like the left cut of the deck when you shuffle please. I don’t have a question or topic. I’m open to whatever message or guidance the card can give. Thank you.

A: Hello Sleepy. I hope the reading gives you a little boost. Tarot is all about that kind of encouragement and inspiration, not predictions, but you already know that. I know your circumstances from our conversation earlier, but I won’t publish any of those details. Protecting your privacy is a major priority. Thank you for giving permission to share your card reading. I never share a reading for a specific person without their permission, and even then I redact it more than the CIA to keep any identifying information out of it.

Had a hunch that the Alleyman’s Tarot was the right one to use today. Your card is the Hermit from the major arcana. This particular Hermit card was drawn by Aka Skyweb for the Ariadne’s Thread Tarot deck. (Side note to the blog and podcast: I use the Alleyman’s Tarot deck with permission from Publishing Goblin LLC. )

Major Arcana vs minor arcana isn’t quite as telling with one card as it is in a larger layout. Intuitively it doesn’t feel like the card is pointing to a major life lesson, big decision, or major turning point in life as major arcana cards sometimes can. Minor arcana cards outnumber the majors almost two to one. I don’t know the exact math, but chances are that any given single card draw will result in a minor arcana card. Given that, major arcana cards always earn a little extra consideration in any size of reading.

If the arcana reads into this at all, it is to say that this is a high energy time time for you, just as you described. For you it felt chaotic, but that level of energy can also be stressful or invigorating. Everyone feels it differently. Whatever this higher intensity energy makes you feel, usually you feel a lot of it. However you describe it, the card is acknowledging and validating the high wattage energy you’ve felt recently. In any reading, any card in any layout position can have different spin or different flavors of message. It can be an advice message giving you something to consider doing. It can be a caution message giving you something to consider avoiding. It can be recognition or validation, like a cosmic “I hear you.” Or, as in this case, it can be a reassurance message. The feeling around this card very much is letting you know that you are on the right path and doing the right thing for this moment in time.

The Hermit symbolizes seeking isolation and finding inner peace and wisdom. It is about insight that becomes a light in the dark. Outer quiet clearly isn’t an option for you right now, so let’s look at the inner part of it.

In your case, it is letting you know that the self care you have already been doing is the right thing. It is perfectly ok to dial back a little on things that you have been focused on to shift your attention elsewhere. It’s better to do one thing at a time as best as you can than to half-ass a bunch of different things. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that “The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.” Your time and attention is a worthy gift. If you wanted to share a bottle of expensive wine with friends, you wouldn’t break the bottle into pieces to share it all at once. You would pour a little into each glass in turn one at a time. I don’t know the full details of the situation, but it feels like you are being told one thing at a time, not everything all at once. “One thing at a time in the right order, first things first” is good advice for adults too, not just small children.

I ‘hear’ “Red thread of continuity.” Of course, when I say ‘hear’ it means that the intuition comes as mental words, sounds or music instead of as mental images (that’s the difference between clairaudient and clairvoyant) which refers to the read thread on this particular version of the Hermit. I think what that all means is that whatever that thing you set aside or de-prioritized for a time CAN and SHOULD be picked up again once the current chaos has passed. You did the right thing putting one thing on the backburner for a time in order to give the best of yourself to something more important.

This card strongly reminds me of a live feed I was watching of a fellow Tarot reader (MadamAdam) Some of what he said very much applies with the energy here.

You’ve talked and written about self care. It’s important that you have led by example during this time. It’s important that you stepped back from work to take care of yourself and your family. People need to know your advice is real, and that you follow it for yourself and that it WORKS. Like “Madam Adam” said that it is important to “keep up your end of the bargain” your family, yourself and your professional clients by keeping yourself healthy and well and learning and growing and doing all of those things we professionals, in all of our wisdom, tell other people to do. He really made the point when he said “Why would I take dance lessons from someone who can’t dance?” Indeed. Why would any of us take advice from someone who doesn’t take care of their own spiritual and emotional wellness?

Stepping back from work did something important for yourself. Stepping back from work also kept up your end of the bargain to provide good service to your clients. Don’t beat yourself up for not sticking to some arbitrary schedule that you make up for yourself in the first place.

By stepping back from work, you gave a fuller measure of yourself to loved ones which is infinitely more important than ANY mundane task.

Plus the red thread thing shows that nothing was lost, you can pick right up where you left off.

The red thread of continuity shows that everything was gained by being true to your own insight and your own priorities.

A lot of times the Hermit card gives us advice to find quiet and carve out the quiet time we need. All the quiet and isolation in the world won’t help when you are churning on the inside. By the same token, all the outer chaos in the world can’t touch calm that comes from the inside. That’s why they call it “inner peace” because that is where it has to happen no matter what is or isn’t going on around you.

Intuitively I see a shiny black crystal…I think it is black tourmaline more than hematite which will protect your energy. In my mind’s eye, I see meditation beads so whatever meditation, yoga, tai chi or chi gong practice you might have, please do indulge in that as best as you can. For aromatherapy, I get sandalwood, copal, amber. Lavender, chamomile, bergamot are your standard issue aromatherapy recommendations for stressful, chaotic times. I think they might actually get on your nerves more than support them. Go for warm smokey woody scents for those times when the world is getting on your last nerve.

And get some sleep. Take a nap as much as things will let you. Sleep is an incredibly healing thing.

There the energy steps back. I hope that helps. As always if you have any questions about the reading or anything else, leave it in the blog comments or send an email. The contact is on the website.

Hang in there!

I hope the mock up reading helps you, too. Thanks again for reading and listening. See you at the next sip!

Today’s Tarot: Discovering Diamonds

Today is a good example of why just memorizing card meanings isn’t enough.

Tarot cards are nothing sacred, nothing independent from ourselves. They are a tool – and a damned useful one – for accessing our own intuition and insight. The cards trigger the mental images, sounds, words or other mental-sensations or emotional feelings that typically carry the core message. Tarot readings are most powerful when you combine the classic card meanings with your own intuitive read of the energy of the moment. The first is a root, a foundation. The second is drawing from that root to meet the need of the moment.

Learning structured meanings for the cards is the beginning, a necessary gateway to using cards intuitively. Today we begin with one (of many) classic, well known meanings for this card: creativity. Generally the Ace of Cups is associated with inspiration and new ideas. Of the many meanings given for the card, creative inspiration is the one that most captures my attention today. The idea of creative inspiration (think Muse) is supported in the artwork. Think of the water pouring into the cup as new ideas being poured into your creative mind and expressive talents.

On the purely intuitive side, I get the mental image of a graphic of a human brain, like one of those pleasant, artsy 3d-ish graphics they have in memory support supplement commercials. I could “see” bright points, like diamonds scattered across the image connected by thin silver, shiny threads and “heard” the term “neural network.”

And no, I’m not hallucinating. This is all very much just the product of inner, mental imagination. Sometimes internal mental processes are best communicated in simple, spiritual, even primitive language. Saying ‘see’ is the best way to describe intuition (or energy, or spirit, pick your vocabulary) coming to mind in the form of images of things. Saying ‘hear’ is the best way to describe when intuition presents itself in the form of words or sounds.

Tarot is both literally and subtly symbolic. Sometimes the two daisy-chain together to give the card’s meaning, just like words chain together to form a coherent sentence idea. On the card, the literal image of water pouring into a chalice can symbolize an outpouring of inspiration. Combine that with the diamond-like ‘neural network’ and it reminds me of something I read once…not sure where….that creativity is not so much a function of making something totally new as much as it is a function of discovering new and novel connections between things that already exist. In some sense, that process of making new connections is the root of all creativity. Science is not the only human endeavor where we stand on the shoulders of Newton’s giants. We have to make things out of the resources at hand. Creativity can find new whole new resources or it can make new things out of what is already there. Both count.

So let’s find the diamonds and connect the dots for today.

Advice message: Today is a good day to follow your creative impulses. Don’t let a good idea spill away.

Caution message: If it isn’t a part of your livelihood or an absolute necessity, don’t force yourself into creativity. The best ideas are spontaneous. If it isn’t happening, wait for inspiration.

Validation message: Yes, that idea is as good as you think. Roll with it.

Working from intuition, these suggestions are inspired by, not traditionally associated with, the Ace of Cups:

Book suggestion: “Every Tool’s a Hammer” by Adam Savage

Aromatherapy: Lemongrass, bergamot or citronella

Crystals: Rainbow fluorite, iolite, amazonite (crown and throat chakras, inspiration and communication)

Affirmation: I see connections clearly and take inspiration from them.

A few quick announcements:

The premium blog won’t be happening after all. The entire blog is FREE, the specials and giveaways are for everyone, and the YouTube channel is still not monetized. That being said, any likes, shares, blog follows, social media subs and follows and reading orders are always greatly appreciated!

I need your help in another way too. The slo-mo ask me anything is going to happen under a different name. Zombie Cat wants to hibernate for a while. He’s just not that into it if people aren’t asking questions. If you have a question for the new look AMA, please leave them in the comments below or on YouTube, Instagram or Twitter (I won’t see it if you use FB or Tumblr. My content is there, but I don’t interact with those platforms)

Special Offers Updated for Summer

There are two brand new special offers:

  1. PeaceTarot: The Punk Graffiti Edition. I have a limited number of second quality paper copies of PeaceTarot (one side printing, side staple binding) that I will thoroughly vandalize with a one card InkMagick Tarot reading (includes card interpretation, sigil element, crystal and aromatherapy suggestions and anything else that comes to mind) All you pay is $5 postage and handling.
  2. NEW Timeflow layout is 50% off, available by email only. Get yours before they move to full $20 price at the end of summer. Includes Vintage public domain RWS card images (please donate/support sacred-texts.com) the usual psychic summary and a new 4 card layout that includes
    • Let It Rest: suggests a part of life that has been getting your time energy and attention that might need some rest and room to grow
    • Let It Go: something that you might need to release entirely or at least make your last priority
    • Que It Up: Something on the near horizon whose time has not yet come. This is an area of life that needs preparation and watching for the right timing
    • Let It Roll: This is the part of life that needs your time and energy now. This is where the energies are flowing to your advantage.

All prior free readings, special offers and price reductions have now expired. The above special offers are subject to all website policies and disclaimers and are valid May 26 – August 30, 2020.

Kitten Whiskers

 

One of the big perks of being a professional Tarot reader is you get to keep some of the ideas that drop into your head on the behalf of  other people. Or, some might say, you get to take your own advice.

One theme came through quite a lot early on in the lockdowns, say mid-March through Mid-April. Time and again I heard that it wasn’t the time to go into deep spiritual things. It was a time to take care of business on the physical side of things to get set up for the big stay-at-home and to take care of one’s self on the emotional side of things. It was OK to spend the day in your pajamas and randomly stare into the refrigerator. Still is, if that is what you need. Part of that overall self-care advice was to enjoy small familiar comforts as much as possible. Simple pleasures and little things are showing their importance these days.

I’m more than happy to take that little wisdom nugget to heart. On one hand, I’ve been wanting to share some of the really cool things I’ve found just out of pure fan-girling enthusiasm. On the other hand, I made a promise to myself to stay “on brand” and on topic with TaoCraft Tarot because it already includes my favorite stuff wrapped in an aesthetic that I love. But that’s the web and this, at the risk of sounding like a Julie Andrews song, are a few of my favorite real life things.

I am a Meatpuppet.

I like science fiction. I love a good sense of humor. Double extra bonus point is you reference one of my all time favorite cyberpunk novels, Neuromancer.

On of my good internet buddies and energy healer extraordinaire (you know, Pip over at Hygge Energy Healing, speaking of favorite things) told me about a story that was posting a chapter at a time. I’ve been an avid fan aka meatpuppet of David Turner’s How To Be Dead series ever since. If you like humor and fantasy / sci fi blended together in the vein of Terry Pratchett, Dave Turner’s series has it all. Think Monty Python meets Doctor Who covered in Shaun of the Dead with a heaping helping of Douglas Adams. 

Take, for example, the Grim Reaper. Spooky and eternal, yes. But also prone to dancing around the office to Blue Oyster Cult and frequently searching for cookies. You find yourself caring about Death as a character, not to mention protagonist Dave Marwood, flat mate Gary, love interest Melanie, Death’s assistant Anne – all of them – feel like people you’d want to have a beer with. All except that executive who turns out to be….well, you’ll find out. Or at least I hope you will. What better way to spend a global pandemic than a good, satisfying read about ghosts, vampires, zombies that aren’t zombies, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, werewolves. The only word of caution I have is that reading it might make you want to put “Don’t Fear The Reaper”  on loop or eat a bunch of chocolate hob nobs. All five books in  the HTBD series are available on amazon in both Kindle and paperback formats. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make sure my ringtone is still “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and rummage through the kitchen for some cookies.

I may be a meatpuppet but at least my hands aren’t dry anymore.

“Ghoulish Delights” was just that….a delight. Amanda has since rebranded her excellent skin care products and added teas to become Balefire Apothecary. One stop relaxation, that. Aromatherapy was always one of my favorite parts of the Natural Health program, but I’m not interested in making and selling blends or products. I use aromatherapy all the time both for my personal use and as part of the ‘psychic summary’ section of a reading…but that is another kitten whisker for another day. Let’s just say I really appreciate a good blend when I smell it. These are my absolute favorites. It is easy enough to find blends with florals and musks but base notes are another thing. Woody resins are far and away my favorites, and Amanda is an absolute genius with them. Rather than being heavy, they are perfectly balanced with smoke and sweetness, fresh and watery, herbs and outright magic. The blends evoke a sense of place and story. The “corpse cream” renamed to body cream in “Bridgewater Triangle” scent is, was and will be #1 on my list: the campfire smoke, marshmallow and autumn leaves is irresistible to a fall season lover like me. The stuff actually works, too. I hand wash all of our dishes, do all of the cooking and knit. All that yarn and hand washing is a recipe for dry skin any time of year, doubly so in the winter. The cream is protective and soothing, and when I’m not doing all that other stuff I’m walking around sniffing my hands because the stuff smells so darn good. Seasonal teas, wildcrafted ingredients, perfume oils, leaping bunny certification, and a range of skin care are all good reasons to check out the apothecary. The creative names and scent descriptions are still there too.

Whether it is raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, a dollop of hand cream or a good comedy horror book, I wish you a wonderful evening with a few of your favorite things.

P.S. just out of due diligence and all of that other responsible stuff, I think I’m supposed to tell you that these are unsolicited reviews. I’m not paid and received no free samples or anything. This is 100% unadulterated grade A fangirling. Thanks to Dave Turner and Amanda at Balefire Apothecary for allowing me to rave about their stuff.

Psst…a new freebie

Now in the TaoCraftTarotShop on Etsy:

I’m calling this ‘PeaceTarot, the graffiti edition’

Purchase a mini InkMagick Tarot reading for $5 and get a FREE paper copy of PeaceTarot first edition AND FREE postage.

Full disclosure: these are second quality copies, with single sided pages and staples-only binding. I’ve UPCYCLED these sad little homeless copies with handwritten mini InkMagick Tarot readings. Please personalize your reading with any question or topic you have for the card. If you want an open reading, just leave the personalization option blank.

PeaceTarot is an easy how-to booklet that teaches you to do DIY daily meditation style Tarot readings for yourself, even if you don’t have a Tarot deck at hand. The second part has unique card interpretations for the 78 Rider Waite style cards that focus on regaining peace of mind during stressful times.

InkMagic readings are handwritten, and include all the usual parts of any distance Tarot (read about THAT here) I will pull a card just for you, then write the card and its reading in the white space in the booklet, including the sigil element intuitive illustration, crystal and aromatherapy recommendations, and a positive affirmation based on the reading. Limited supply!

“I kinda like it in here. It’s private.”

Mythbusters was on TV. I needed that.

One of my many, many favorite moments from the show is the time when Jamie was wearing a silver fire suit. You couldn’t see see him through the face mask at all, only hear him deadpanning “I kinda like it in here. It’s private.”

Here is why that moment comes to mind:

If you work with energy, intuition or do professional readings there are times when you need a mental fire suit.

If you want a real deal, deep dive, time tested and reliable resource on the topic, go get yourself a copy of “Psychic Protection” by Ted Andrews. It is far and away the best resource I’ve ever read about healthy psychic work, bar none. But for the purposes of our little blog post, there are two basic concepts I want to focus on: Empathic sensitivity and Zeitgeist sensitivity or energy resonance.

As I understand it, empaths feel other people’s emotions as if they were their own. The boundary between their own true feelings and the feelings of other people is often thin, blurry, or difficult to find. Very sensitive empaths regulate this through proximity. They know (or can learn) their boundaries and respect their limits. When emotional levels become too intense or overwhelming they exit the situation. Highly sensitive empaths are careful where and how they engage with crowded environments like bars or shopping malls for example. I know of two very skilled, very wise, very kind psychic readers who are selective about where they go and how long they stay in busy public places. It’s not in any way the product of anxiety or agoraphobia. It’s pure self care. It takes time, experience and a great deal of self awareness for these high vibration folks to learn where their boundaries are and how to manage them.

For those of us who are generally energy sensitive, but not emotionally empathic, it is quite a bit easier to see that boundary between our own emotions and general environmental energies. I like to think of it as zeitgeist sensitivity or energy resonance separate from any empathic process.

Zeitgeist means the general mood of a time or a cultural phenomenon. In my experience, this is the energy we tap into when we post a general reading for a blog or on social media without a specific individual in mind. The cultural mood of the time, the zeitgeist, is the general-public parallel with the higher self, spirit guides or divine that we sense in an individual Tarot session.

In times of great emergency like the current pandemic, the cultural energy is so strong, so ubiquitous, and so pervasive that the lines become blurred even for those of us who are not usually empathic. It is helpful to think of this like resonance from physics. Think of the tuned bells in a hand bell choir. If you strike a tuning fork and hold it very close, a bell tuned to that some note could in theory vibrate along with it. If our intuition is sensitive to cultural zeitgeists then we can resonate with that environmental energy. The general zeitgeist, through resonance, rings our bell too.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a giant bell-ringer for everyone. I worry for our very empathic friends. There is very real danger, illness, grief, and hardship out there. I can’t imagine any sane person who is NOT experiencing SOME level of adjustment. Imagine feeling the real things we are all facing, plus the emotions of others on top of it all. For those of us lucky enough to be safe and well at the moment, it still might be a good idea to get our mental fire suit out.

In order to do our best readings for our clients, and to maintain our own psychic / spiritual health, I think it is important for all sensitives, intuitives, Tarot readers and the like to take care of their emotional boundaries in a time like this. It is important to know what is your own, inner, real, valid, valuable, genuine emotions and what is the outside world ringing your bell.

Intention, as always, is everything. Finding your emotional boundaries and putting on your fire suit can be as simple as visualizing. Imagine yourself surrounded by white or golden light. When I was in my teens, before I was at a place in life where I could quit, I would sit in the more toxic Sunday services at my parent’s church and visualize myself wearing an orange hazmat suit. It helped. Now I have a whole variety of energy protecting, boundary fortifying, zeitgeist clarifying tools: black tourmaline, discreet pentacles and sigils, aura clearing aromatherapy spray, visualizations and more. Yes, it is all full-throttle woo woo but it has value. It helps me understand my emotions with greater clarity, it helps me understand the outer situation, and helps me keep logic and reason close at hand. That makes it worth it, no matter how woo-woo it might seem to some folks. It may take some trial and error, but you can find your fire suit too. I encourage you to find the things that help you see what is your emotion (so you can honor it) and what is the outside world pinging your boundary lines (so you can put that information to good use.) If you aren’t sure, try a little visualization and active imagination. Imagine yourself wearing a protective fire suit that keeps out any vibe not coming from your own true heart. The suit doesn’t cut you off from the world. You still feel the heat of it all. The suit lets you know that you aren’t the one on fire.

Updated “about” page

My readings won’t tell you what is going to happen in life. They help you figure out what to do when life happens.

All of my readings have the same basic structure. Distance and in-person sessions give the same identical information. The only difference is convenience (email does not require an appointment) and the ability to ask questions in real time rather than emails back and forth.

All readings have these same basic parts.

  • Photo (or drawing) of your unique card layout
  • General pattern: any messages from the overall layout
  • Card-by-card discussion: meaning, layout position meaning, type of message from that card (advice, caution, validation, etc)
  • Affirmation based on your cards
  • Sigil elements: any shapes or sketches that intuition gives, if any. You may use these as elements to create a sigil for yourself if you like.
  • Psychic Summary: this allows for any impressions that come from intuition whether it is related to the cards or not. Often this includes helpful crystal, color, and aromatherapy suggestions.

Allow 45-60 minutes for an in-person session. All prices are flat rate, not per minute so you know your full cost up front. Appointment required for in-person and Party Tarot.

Distance readings are my specialty. As a writer, a keyboard is a direct-dial hotline into the best of my thinking and intuition. Since I can do this kind of reading almost anywhere, I do them all of the time, usually filling orders within hours, no appointment needed. I can type out a reading as easily as speaking it out loud in person, and give exactly the same information in both.

The small print: All the usual policies and disclaimers apply to all readings, Reiki sessions and meditation tutorials. The short version is that everything here is for entertainment, personal enrichment or spiritual practices, and does not ever diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any mental or physical illness. Nothing here can take the place of professional medical care. I don’t accept medical or pregnancy questions because Tarot just doesn’t work for that kind of thing. When you contact me, that indicates that you agree to the policies and use these services at your own risk; no liability of any sort is accepted.

 

 

 

 

 

Q&A: What is the “sigil element” in the reading?

inkmagicksigil

Q: I like that you put extras like crystals, aromatherapy, and an affirmation in your handwritten Tarot readings, but what is the “sigil element”? What is that for and what does it do? 

A: I’m sorry I didn’t explain that part more clearly.

When I do in-person readings, I always write notes for the client to have. That lets me draw or doodle any abstract shapes or images that intuition may give during the reading. Most images in a reading are common and easy to describe like ‘rain’ or ‘a tree’ or ‘a teapot’ or what have you. Sometimes I get abstract shapes that hint at a concept and look like schematics or hieroglyphs.  For example, I might get a stair step image to show progress that starts and stops, or a “Y” shape that hints at a fork in the road kind of decision. The sigil element above is an example. It came to mind when I first began developing the “InkMagick” readings a few years ago. It represents a quill pen and paper, while the lines and dots symbolize it being digitized and sent by email. Thanks to new tech that converts my handwriting and doodles right into a .pdf file, now I can share those intuitive shapes in a distance reading the same as in an in-person session or a pen and paper reading.

Around the same time, I discovered sigils and began working with them for my own use. Because I am so new to the art, I don’t claim to be able to create fully formed sigils for clients. I really think sigils are most powerful when you create them for yourself, anyway.

I share the intuitive shapes, psych-a-doodles, sigil elements…whatever you want to call them… for two reasons. First and foremost to better show you what intuition is showing me. Second, I hope the image will inspire the visual, creative side of you.

Which still begs the basic question: What the heck is a sigil anyway?

Sigils are essentially drawn designs that are thought to have some sort of esoteric power or energy, and can act as a talisman or amulet. In other words, it is a shape or symbol that you design in order to attract something into your life or to influence your life experience in some way. The confusing part is the word sigil itself. It can mean old (medieval or earlier) symbols traditionally believed to name and summon demons in ritual magick. The more modern sense of the word still means power symbols, but instead of summoning demons in complicated occult rituals, these contemporary sigils can be used to focus your energy on a particular outcome. It all has to do with your intentions. So like anything intention and energy driven, set your intent clearly in your mind from the very beginning, and stay focused on being a source of light and love throughout the process. Do that, and it is pretty unlikely anything shaggy and goat-headed will show up at your doorstep.

Intention is everything. Intend the loving highest and best. It’s that simple.

That is the theory of it. Now for the nuts and bolts of it.

First decide what you want the sigil to do. Draw it. Activate it. Let it go. It is like a metaphysical Ron Popiel gadget…set it and forget it.

It is up to you how simple or fancy you want to be. You can use a calligraphy brush on fine rice paper, or a ballpoint on a napkin.

You can use some sort of method for creating the sigil, like drawing lines on a grid that corresponds to letters of a key word. You can just draw a collection of smaller meaningful symbols (lines, spirils, crescents, circles and so on) or you can combine letters and shapes.

After you create and draw your sigil, some action is taken to “activate it.” The activation process usually ends with the sigil drifting into your subconscious mind. Tradition holds that it is the subconscious intention that connects with the universe to manifest your intended outcome.

Activation takes all sorts of forms. Some will simply fold up the paper and carry it. The simple act of possessing the symbol in its written form gives it the activation energy. Sometimes sigils are printed on a commonly used object like a shirt or a mug so that when the object is used, the sigil’s intention is energized as well. Some will burn the paper to release the sigil’s energy to the universe to be manifested.

There are many ways of creating and activating sigils. The details are outside the scope of one blog post, so I would suggest reading the experts below for more details if you are interested in sigil making.

In my experience, the real value of a sigil is going through the process of designing it in the first place, however you ultimately use or activate it. It is a creative, expressive process. It converts your desires from verbal to non-verbal form and lets you engage with those desires in an emotional, visceral way that words alone can’t quite capture.

I call the doodles “sigil elements” for lack of a better name. I also hope that they hold more energy for you than simple illustrations. I hope you can use the sigil element to create your own power symbol, or at least think about spirit’s guidance in a way beyond words alone.

Sources:

 

Etsy Shop update Nov 12, 2019

Ink Reading Glass pen

 

Just added: Full “InkMagick” seven card Tarot reading and InkMagick mini one card reading. Order HERE

INKMAGICK TAROT is a unique Tarot experience: All handwritten on heavy 24 lb inkjet paper with all of the features of all of my distance readings: diagram of card layout (in place of photo) with full card interpretations, positive affirmation, psychic summary including crystal energy and aromatherapy suggestions. This special version has the ADDED feature of “sigil elements.”

Sigils in the modern sense are an art form creating a power symbol, a talisman of sorts that symbolizes the things you would like to call in to your life path. The shapes given to me by intuition during your reading are elements you can use to create your own sigil and empower or activate it according to your own beliefs and practices.

An InkMagic Mini reading is a one card meditation reading handwritten in InkMagick style.